O’Donnell to replace Mitchell as Forum event moderator

Author: Julie Hail Flory

Norah O'Donnell

Due to a scheduling conflict, the moderator for this evening’s Notre Dame Forum event featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has been changed from NBC’s Andrea Mitchell to her network colleague, journalist Norah O’Donnell.

Friedman’s talk, which will be streamed live on the Web, is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Leighton Concert Hall at the University’s DeBartolo Performing Arts Center. The presentation is a signature event for the 2010-11 Notre Dame Forum, “The Global Marketplace and the Common Good,” a yearlong discussion of morals in the rebuilding and reshaping of the global economy.

Following Friedman’s talk, O’Donnell will moderate a roundtable discussion featuring Carolyn Y. Woo, Martin J. Gillen Dean of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business; Gary Anderson, professor of theology; and Notre Dame senior Shanna Gast.

The chief Washington correspondent for NBC News’ 24-hour cable channel, MSNBC, O’Donnell is an award-winning journalist and serves as contributing correspondent and anchor for NBC’s top-rated “Today.” Prior to being named White House correspondent, O’Donnell had been NBC News’ congressional correspondent.

Washingtonian Magazine has named O’Donnell as one of Washington’s 100 most powerful women. She also has been named to Irish American Magazine’s 2000 “Top 100 Irish Americans” list.

Established in 2005 by Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., Notre Dame’s president, the Notre Dame Forum has brought leading authorities to campus to discuss substantive issues of the day. Past forum topics have included immigration, sustainability, global health and the role of religious faith in a plural world.